A 14-year-old boy who has been the focus of a long-running custody battle between his neurologist father from Houston and dentist mother from Denver has been found after a 15-month search.

Police in Jackson, Mich. arrested the boy’s uncle, Douglas Lazell, 52, in connection to Andrew Mosier’s disappearance and the boy is currently in protective custody, said Det. David McCurry of the West University Police Department, near Houston. The boy had been staying with his uncle in a Motel 6.

“It’s been 15 months that I’ve imagined just about everything that a father can about what happened to his son,” said Dr. Dennis Mosier, who was contacted by phone at the Houston airport, where he is awaiting a flight to Michigan. “I’m just glad that Andrew has been found and that he is safe.”

Dr. Mosier, who has full custody of his son, said he is on his way to reunite with his son and will later determine the best course of action. He said it was the second time his son was snatched away from him.

“This nightmare is finally over,” said Dr. Mosier’s attorney Laura Dale. “Michigan was not on our radar, I can tell you that.”

Dr. Mosier has not seen his son since Aug. 5, 2010 when the then 13-year-old boy disappeared from his suburban Houston home.

Mosier has told police that he suspects his ex-wife, Denver dentist Carol Lazell, who is only allowed supervised visits with her son, was involved.

Her attorney, Michael Canges, has said she did not have anything to do with her son’s disappearance.

However, Dale said that police tracked Carol Lazell to Michigan within the past two weeks and Dr. Mosier said police have confirmed that she has given checks to her brother, Douglas, since he was missing.

Dr. Mosier was awarded custody of Andrew in January of 2010 by a Jefferson County, Co. magistrate.

But on June 18, 2010, Doug Lazell went to a home where a caretaker was watching Andrew and persuaded him to drive him and Andrew to the airport for a trip to Denver.

When he heard about it, Dr. Mosier called police. Carol Lazell claimed she had no part in her brother’s decision and within four days Andrew was back in Houston.

In August of 2010, Andrew disappeared again. His uncle Doug had disappeared as well.

Kirk Mitchell is a general assignment reporter at The Denver Post who focuses on criminal justice stories. He began working at the newspaper in 1998, after writing for newspapers in Mesa, Ariz., and Twin Falls, Idaho, and The Associated Press in Salt Lake City. Mitchell first started writing the Cold Case blog in Fall 2007, in part because Colorado has more than 1,400 unsolved homicides.